Learn Farsi: آیا تیم می‌توانست از پرتگاه یخ‌زده صعود کند؟ - Could the team climb the frozen precipice?

To express past capability ("could" or "was able to"), Farsi uses the past continuous form of the verb توانستن, which requires the می- prefix. This is then followed by the present subjunctive for the actual action being attempted (صعود کند).

Since تیم (team) is made up of multiple people, why are the verbs می‌توانست and صعود کند in the singular?

Collective nouns in Farsi, like تیم (team) or خانواده (family), usually take singular verbs because the group is acting as a single, unified entity. You would only use plural verbs here if you wanted to emphasize the individual members acting separately.

Why do we use the preposition از (from) before پرتگاه (precipice)?

While از usually translates to "from", Farsi commonly uses it with verbs of ascending, descending, or passing through (like صعود کردن). It marks the path or surface being traversed, so you are structurally climbing "by way of" or "up from" the cliff.

How does the word یخ‌زده mean "frozen"?

It is a compound adjective formed from یخ (ice) and زده (the past participle of زدن, to hit or strike). It literally means "ice-struck"! Farsi frequently uses this -زده suffix to describe being affected or afflicted by something.